


5 Times John and Dorian Didn't Take Their Relationship to the Next Level (And What Happened When They Did)

by lodessa



Category: Almost Human
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-06-16
Packaged: 2018-01-25 13:23:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1650155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lodessa/pseuds/lodessa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kennex is pretty sure that his observational programming and sensors are too accurate for Dorian not to have noticed the hungry way that Kennex looks at him sometimes, but he doesn’t say anything.  He’s programmed to be tactful, just like he is programmed to be thoughtful, considerate, to look out for Kennex’s well being.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 5 Times John and Dorian Didn't Take Their Relationship to the Next Level

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lizzen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizzen/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For a moment he thought about telling him, watching the programming try to react to the news flash that making your robot cop too superhumanly good looking turned human partners to the other fucking team.

**1\. John**

“John. Please let me stay with you, at least for tonight. Rudy is remodeling the lab and it is not a restful place to be.”

“If I say yes will you shut up about how long it’s been since I went to a meeting?”

“Yes.” Dorian agreed.

“Fine.” Kennex shrugged and shifted his grip on the steering wheel.

“Thank you.” 

Inwardly he cursed himself for giving in to the damned robot. It was HIS SPACE, goddamnit, and he had no right.

It certainly wasn’t more than that, he assured himself later, staring at the ceiling. He just liked his privacy. It wasn’t that Tin Man out there featured more and more prominently in his dreams these days. It wasn’t that he found himself thinking about the perfect human, jaw, and hands, and… everything that Dorian had. Detective John Kennex was straight as a fucking arrow and if he were going to go gay, not that he was, it would at least be for an actual human being.

“John.” He must have been making a lot of noise pacing around, “Are you alright? Do you want to talk about it.”

For a moment he thought about telling him, watching the programming try to react to the news flash that making your robot cop too superhumanly good looking turned human partners to the other fucking team. Then again, maybe that was intentional. Besides, the last thing he needed was for Dorian to refer him to counseling about this out of concern.

“I’m fine. Bother me again and I am sending you back to the lab.”

**2\. Dorian ******

Dorian can hear John tossing and turning in the other room. He has over three hundred different suggestions as to how his partner could relax himself but John has told him he doesn’t want his help and Dorian doesn’t want to risk making him angry and getting sent away.

So he simply thinks about them: John wouldn’t go in for meditation. If medication worked, John would already have used it. For some reason he seems determined not to try sexual release, based on his resistance to asking Detective Stahl out, or any other woman for that matter. When Dorian suggested men, John became very angry with him and refused to listen to his carefully constructed counseling.

As if his thinking about it made it happen, Dorian hears through the walls that John is attempting to relax himself with self service. He is sure that his partner has forgotten his observational capabilities, or he would not have done so with him here. Is that why John is so reluctant to have Dorian live with him? Does the idea of Dorian knowing he masturbates bother him?

He knowledge of what John is doing in the other room gets a reaction from Dorian. He may not be able to eat or drink or sleep but his anatomy is not just for show. His creator did give him this. Dorian reaches down and fondles his own genitals, timing his hand with John’s, cheating and scanning through the wall.

Then something happens that he doesn’t expect.

“Dorian…” John gasps and it registers to Dorian that he is the subject of John’s mastubatory fantasy. He considers going to him, letting him know that he’s heard that, and forcing the issue out into the open. Repression is bad for humans’ health and whatever John’s fantasy is, Dorian is eager to fulfill it.

Then he considers John’s reactions to all kinds of obvious truths, and concludes that he is more likely to freak out and demand Dorian be deactivated than embrace the situation.

He stays quiet.

**3\. John**

He really thinks he is done for until Dorian comes flying out of nowhere at the last minute and tackles him to safety, using his robot form as a shield from the explosion.

“Are you alright, John?” Dorian’s programming is spectacular and if Kennex didn’t know it was just AI programming it would look and sound like someone talking to a loved one. Not that he’s had any loved ones in a long time. He knows the look though. He sees it on the job. 

Okay, so maybe Dorian is right and he needs to start dating again. Fuck. At this rate he’s going to have a complete fucking break and start making out with his synth at crime scenes in front of the public if he’s not careful. It would be way too easy, to crane his face up into Dorian’s, arch his body up against him.

Dorian would probably let him chalk it up to shock. Kennex is pretty sure that his observational programming and sensors are too accurate for Dorian not to have noticed the hungry way that Kennex looks at him sometimes, but he doesn’t say anything. He’s programmed to be tactful, just like he is programmed to be thoughtful, considerate, to look out for Kennex’s well being.

Kennex has never had anyone know what he needs the way Dorian does. He’s never felt this important.

Dorian would probably let Kennex take whatever he needed from him. Part of him knows that and that’s one part of the giant problem. It’d be cheating. It wouldn’t be real… not really. Kennex has read too many goddamned fairytales because what he secretly wants is for Dorian to somehow become a real boy.

So he doesn’t kiss his savior, doesn’t devour him like he so desperately longs to. 

“I’d be better if you got your heavy ass off of me.” He complains instead.

You know perfectly well I am only putting 34% of my weight on you. Dorian calls him out, but he gets up and tries to help Kennex to his feet.

“Thanks, man.” Kennex concedes.

**4\. Dorian**

John is so fragile. That is one of the downsides with humans. He goes around acting like he is bulletpoof but his leg is a testament to his mortality.

Dorian does the best he can to take care of his human partner. He makes sure John eats. He encourages him to sleep and tries to get him to have a social life. He watches John’s back. He knows that one day it won’t be enough, and the thought fills him with sadness.

Sometimes, Dorian thinks that he should report some of John’s risky behaviors to the Captain, but he knows that John would see it as a betrayal. It is more important for John to trust him.

“John.” He begins, once they are far enough away from the crime scene. John is usually most talkative when he is driving and doesn’t have to look Dorian in the eye.

“What?” John responds with annoyance that has a 78% chance of being a pretense.

“You know I care about your well being, don’t you?”  
“Are you seriously trying to have a heart to heart with me right now?” 

The disbelief has less than a 5% chance of being genuine.

“If something happened to you, the chances of my remaining in the police service is are very small.”

Often John can accept connection more easily if Dorian pretends it is self interest instead. Dorian has found various ways to insinuate himself more closely into John’s life through this approach, but none of them are enough.

Dorian wonders what the chances are that he would get favorable results from being straightforward with John and telling him how he felt about him.

The risk and the uncertainty are both too high.

**5\. John**

If they decide he’s unfit for duty, Kennex wonders whether he could convince Maldondo to let him keep Dorian, like those service dogs they gave to soldiers who came back with PTSD. It’s not like they are using the DRNs for anything anyway. They’d probably just deactivate him forever. Kennex surprises himself by wondering how Dorian would feel about being his nervous breakdown service android. He wonders if it would make a difference whether Dorian knew how much Kennex fantasized these days about other arrangements they could have.

“I am sure it is going to be fine, John.” Dorian tells him, unaware of what Kennex is thinking.

“I was just thinking… about what will happen to you if I do lose my badge.” Kennex surprises himself even further by admitting.

“I will probably be deactivated. I might be reprogrammed for manual labor.”

Fuck it. Why not?

“If I could convince Captain Maldondo to let me keep you, would you want that?”

Dorian is silent for a moment, as if in shock.

“I mean, I doubt it would be the most interesting life… they’d probably give me psych disability, but it might be better than being turned off.”

“It would mean a great deal to me, John. I am really touched that you thought of me at a time like this.”

This is the perfect time for Kennex to tell Dorian what he means to him, maybe not the sex stuff but the emotional bullshit. Everything is going to hell anyway, and if not he can always use that as an excuse if this goes poorly, he reasons like a coward.

Old habits die hard though, so instead to scroffs: “Don’t go getting all mushy on my there, Tin Man. I’ve just sort of gotten used to having you around to order the groceries and shit.”


	2. And the Time They Did

Dorian enjoys watching John sleep on the rare occasions he’s so worn out that he passes out without stumbling into his bedroom first: a place Dorian is forbidden from entering. There is a great sense of intimacy in it somehow. Over time Dorian has gotten bolder, unlacing John’s boots for him and putting his feet up, or propping a pillow under his head. There is a gentleness to John’s face when he is asleep, as though it is showing what he means instead of what he says for once. Dorian knows John well enough by now to recognize that he’s really a kind person, even if he tries to seem otherwise.

Dorian has started to suspect that John doesn’t mind the attention; because, he doesn’t complain about it and he’s started sleeping on the couch more and more often. He’s even pretty sure that John knows that Dorian holds him when he has nightmares; because, his breathing patterns suggest he wakes up at some point but he doesn’t let on.

Like tonight for instance. John started tossing and turning at a little after 2AM and Dorian has used the comfort of body contact to soothe him and John isn't asleep now but he isn't admitting he is awake, nor is he complaining about Dorian violating his personal space or the fact that the way they are spooning on the couch means that Dorian’s erection is poking against his lower back.

That knowledge makes Dorian feel somewhat more confidant in his belief that the situation has to be addressed sooner rather than later. They can't keep pretending that they don't cuddle in the middle of the night or than John doesn't moan Dorian’s name in his sleep. 

“John.” He whispers, “I know you are awake.”

“And this little revelation is supposed to help the situation?” John grumbles, but he doesn't get up or move away.

“I have just been thinking. I think we should talk about our relationship.”

“Our relationship? What is there to talk about?”

“John. You are a pretty good detective. It seems unlikely that you haven’t noticed my attempts to get closer to you.”

“This isn’t close enough? I mean you get much closer and your cock is going to be up my ass!”

“Is that something you think about? I know you don’t like to talk about it, but I am aware that you have dreams of a sexual nature about me…”

“Christ!” John sits up, pulling himself away from Dorian but not getting off the couch, “Why do you suddenly want to talk about this shit?”

“It isn’t sudden. I’ve been trying to bring it up, but you keep brushing me off.”

“... Because I don’t want to talk about it.” 

Dorian gets off the couch and kneels in front of John, forcing eye contact, “Do you want to act on it without talking about it then?”

He’s sure that John will try to say later that the reason he smashed his face against Dorian’s was to shut him up. It doesn’t matter though, not when his hot flesh is pressed against Dorian’s: wet mouth, insistent tongue. It doesn’t matter when John’s hands are all over him, like he just has to touch every inch of him to make sure he’s really there.

Dorian lets John take the lead, lifting his arms up so that John can pull his shirt off and rolling his head back to give better access as John nuzzles his neck. He lets John guide him backwards into the forbidden bedroom and onto his back sprawled across John’s long neglected bed. Dorian arches his hips upwards in encouragement as John pulls at his pants, eager to strip Dorian of every inch of clothing. 

There’s a moment there where John just stops and looks down at Dorian, naked underneath him, and it is like he is frozen in time.

Then he’s on him again: caressing and kissing and Dorian is so incredibly grateful that he’s wired to experience pleasure. It is so good to finally have his John without all the emotional and physical barriers John usually puts up between them.

He thinks he is going to short circuit when John closes his hand around him, something Dorian had visualized countless times as they both touched themselves on either side of the wall to this room. He tries to reach out for John to return the favor but John bats his hand away, intent on sole agency. He has his mouth around the head now and is clearly frustrated by his inability to take more of Dorian that way, though his hand keeps pumping till Dorian goes limp underneath him.

John goes to pull away, walls creeping back up, but Dorian is having none of it. 

“My turn.” He whispers against John’s mouth, hands undressing him gently but firmly.

“But I…” John protests.

“If I do something you don’t like, you tell me and I will stop. I am not waiting around for you to spontaneously tell me what you want though… humans don’t live long enough.”

John moans in response, a wordless reply that tells Dorian everything he needs to know about how much John does want to be touched by him. Dorian has long since catalogued John’s moans, groans, and whimpers. 

Dorian pulls John back down on top of him, caressing John’s shoulders and back with his hands and surprised by how intense the feeling of his bare skin against him was.

Dorian watches John realize that, of course, robots don’t need any recharge time, as their erections rub together.

“Now that’s completely unfair.” John says, violating his own no talking rule.

“I’ll have to see what I can do to make it up to you.” Dorian promises and feels John suddenly stiffen.

It takes him a moment to realize.

“Are you nervous about the possibility of anal intercourse, given my -”

“I’m not…” John cuts him off defensively.

“We don’t have to do that… we don’t have to do anything you don’t want.” Dorian reassures him.

“But what if I do want that.” John counters, unable to resist the challenge.

“Then you’ll let me know exactly how you want it and we will go from there. John, you know you can have whatever you want from me, whenever you need it, in whatever way. John I l-”

“I thought we agreed on no talking.” John interrupts him, refusing to hear Dorian’s declaration out loud. 

So Dorian kisses him instead, slow and deep and with exactly the same intent as the words: I love you.

He’s sure there are plenty of people who would argue that synths can’t love, that it is just programming, that a synthetic soul is not the same as a real heart. Dorian can’t argue that it is the same: he’s never been human. He does know that all of the romance novels and movies and literature of the past couple thousand years seems to match his experience of John Kennex with their description of love perfectly.

“If you tell anyone about this. I am going to claim you are malfunctioning and have you decommissioned.” John threatens, but Dorian understands that isn’t what he really means.

Instead of replying or pointing out it is John who keeps talking, Dorian reaches for the lubricant he knows John keeps in the top drawer of his nightstand. 

“So are you penetrating me or am I penetrating you, this time?” He asks instead, blunt and straightforward. These things are safer to John than gentle affection.


	3. Adjustment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes Kennex wishes he could stay in those hazy first moments, when he first wakes up with Dorian curled against his chest and their legs tangled together, when his brain hasn’t had time to remind him of all of the guilt and self loathing he possesses about this situation.

Sometimes Kennex wishes he could stay in those hazy first moments, when he first wakes up with Dorian curled against his chest and their legs tangled together, when his brain hasn’t had time to remind him of all of the guilt and self loathing he possesses about this situation.

He’s pretty sure Dorian knows that too; because, he often presses himself against Kennex in those moments, kissing him insistently, hands all over the place, as if to say: don’t wake up just yet, get lost in this jumble of limbs and flesh. That, or he’s just really bored lying there all night for Kennex’s comfort despite his lack of need for sleep.

He’s not sure which idea is more disturbing: that the fucking is solely for his benefit or that the cuddling is. Of course, it could be both. John isn’t sure when he became the kind of asshole who needs a sexbot, but he is pretty sure it makes him an even worse person that he is doing it with an AI who is not intended for this kind of thing. Although, if DRNs weren’t intended to be having sex, what the hell was the point of not only making them extremely attractive, but also the massive cock?

It’s hard to focus on this kind of self hate though, when Dorian’s strong, smooth, skilled hands are massaging his thighs and Dorian is taking his cock in his mouth, deeper than he would have ever thought possible, before he started sleeping with a robot with no gag reflex.

Another point suggesting that Dorian WAS designed for this: Kennex has no idea what Dorian is doing with his tongue to make it feel that amazing, but it is mindblowing. Is that better or worse than thinking this was not an intended function? Kennex doesn’t know anymore.

“Should we keep going this direction? Or do you want…” Dorian pauses what he is doing and doesn’t get to finish his question before Kennex has pulled him up his body and flipped Dorian underneath him. He props himself over Dorian, reaching down to where their erections are pressed together and circling them both with one hand, as he holds himself up with the other. Dorian arches up against Kennex, hungry mouth meeting his own in an eager press of lips and tongues.

“John!” Dorian gasps into his mouth with an abandon that Kennex finds inspiring.

Kennex reaches to grab the oil they use for mundane purposes like creaking gears as well as this very specific one, before beginning a slow journey down Dorian’s body. It is a perfect body, muscular and beautiful, and Kennex is man enough to admit that he still hasn’t gotten enough of exploring it with his eyes, hands, or mouth. He could probably spend all day just enjoying Dorian’s neck and collarbone and shoulders, but the clock warns him that they are running out of time before their shift starts, and his aching cock has definite opinions on what needs to happen before they have to head to work.  
Dorian doesn’t have to be asked to get his knees up, as Kennex settles down between his legs. He exposes himself with an eagerness, which Kennex hates to recognize must be programmed, whether it is programmed to want it or programmed to act like he does. This thought makes him hate himself, but not enough to stop. It is never enough to stop.

Kennex gives an experimental swipe of his tongue against Dorian’s asshole and is rewarded with a low moan. Encouraged, he probes gently, increasing his intensity with Dorian’s reactions, until he is fully fucking him with his tongue and Dorian is begging him to keep going.

Dorian makes a whining noise as Kennex withdraws to replace his tongue with a slicked up finger, kissing Dorian’s inner thighs with he lubes him up and spreads him out. The way Dorian shudders, little tremors in his legs, feels so real. Kennex lets himself get caught up in that, letting Dorian be the one to tell him he needs more, until finally it is time, and he slides his way up Dorian’s body, positioning himself with his hands on Dorian’s knees for leverage as he finally slides inside of him.

There is an increasingly lost list of things Kennex thought he’d never be into but now finds he is. It includes robots and men. Anal sex is right up at the top as well. The one time he tried it with an ex-girlfriend, it was novel but awkward and ultimately kind of a letdown. There was nothing natural about it. It is different with Dorian. The intensity of it always catches him off guard. The way they fit together is unlike anything Kennex has ever experienced. The fact that it feels so perfect is probably a result of it being artificial, but at the moment Kennex can’t bring himself to care.

The first couple times, they did this with Kennex behind Dorian, but (as much as he enjoyed the sight of Dorian’s back, shoulders, and ass) it is hard to imagine not being able to lean down and kiss him, to see his expressive face contorted in an image of ecstasy. 

“Deeper. Yes! Exactly like that. Johnnnn! Oh… Yes… YES!”

Kennex used to hate anyone talking to him during sex. Now he can’t get enough of it. Dorian’s fingers digging into his shoulders urge him onwards until Kennex spirals out of control and collapses into a heap on top of him.

It takes about thirty seconds for the self loathing to set in. He he sits up, turning away, and shrugs off Dorian’s attempt to embrace him from behind, feeling even worse about being petulant and slinking off to the shower.

Dorian follows him though, once again violating only the boundaries Kennex pretty much wants him to violate but can’t bring himself to say he does. He takes away Kennex’s washcloth, rubbing him down wordlessly and gently but firmly pressing him against the shower wall with a kiss when he’s done, until Kennex gives into his embrace, stiffness melting away.

“Why are you beating yourself up, John?” He asks, cupping Kennex’s face with his hand, “You seem content enough at the time, but then you get all withdrawn and angry.”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Kennex protests.

“Why not? That’s what people do, John. They talk when something is wrong in a relationship.”

“That’s the goddamned problem.” Kennex blurts out, “You aren’t a person.”

He regrets it immediately, even though it is true. The way Dorian’s face falls makes him feel like the scum of the earth.

“Fuck. Dorian look, that’s not how I meant… You are way better at being a person than I am. It is just, I still feel weird about it. It doesn’t seem fair… you are programmed to meet my needs and I am taking advantage of that… because I am a dysfunctional asshole who doesn’t know better than to prey on a synth whose programming doesn’t give him a whole lot of choice.”

Dorian looks at him funny, “You don’t think I have a choice?” He asks.

“Not really. I mean obviously, even if I am convinced that you… feel desire for me… it is programming intended to strengthen teamwork or something. You were designed to…”

“John, for a detective you can be so incredibly dense. I don’t just love you because you are my partner. Look, you know that I was in the service before you right? My first partner and I, well I kind of thought he was an asshole. I had another partner, she and I got along great, but I didn’t feel any attraction. We were… bros. You are right that I am programmed to connect, but so are humans, John. So do me a favor and cut the self pitying moping. This is real for me, and it is my choice. I choose you.”

Dorian’s second hand joins his first on Kennex’s face as he kisses him, slowly and thoroughly. Kennex responds with growing intensity, shifting his weight to press Dorian against the other wall, before sinking down on his knees to go down on him, partly an apology but also caught up in the moment and the feeling of Dorian’s slick wet body against his own.

They are going to be late for work again, but he really doesn’t give a damn.


End file.
